Pneumatic bell-ringer.



PATENTED JAN. 30, 1906.

J, HOWE. PNEUMATIC BELL RINGER. APPLIOATION FILED MAY 6, 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

PATENTED IAN. 30, 1906.

J, HOWEa PNEUMATIC BELL RINGER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 6, 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

a if .5 IH/W ///III III-I imrrnn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 30, 1906.

Application filed May 6,1904. Serial No. 206,772.

To all whom, it may concern.-

' Be it known that I, JOIIN HOWE, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Joseph, in the county of Buchanan and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pneumatic Bell-Ringers, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates particularly to that class of bell-ringers adapted to be attached to locomotives for the purpose of ringing the alarm-bell, and especially to the construction and arrangement of the mechanism adapted to be operated by a motive fluidcompressed air.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a simple, economical, and efficient bell-ringer.

Other and further objects of the invention will appear from an examination of the draw ings and the following description and claims.

The invention consists principally in a pneumatic bell-ringer in which there are combined a cylinder provided with inlet and ex haust ports in the walls at one side thereof, a piston reciprocatingly mounted therein and provided with inlet and exhaust passages ar ranged to be connected and disconnected with the inlet and exhaust ports in the cylinder-wall, means for keeping the reciprocating piston seated on the port side of the cylinder, and means for connecting the reciprocating piston with the alarm-bell.

The invention consists, further and finally, in the features, combinations, and details of construction hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation of a pneumatic bell-ringer as it appears when constructed in accordance with these improvements and showing its connec tion with the crank and crank-pin of an alarm-hell: Fin. 9. inside. elmratinn nf a nun tion of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1 looking at it from the right-hand side thereof and also showing the mechanism for removably securing the bell-ringer cylinder in place, Fig. 3, a parti-sectional plan view taken on line 3 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrow; Fig. 4, a sectional elevation taken on line 4 of Fig. 3 looking in the direction of the arrow and showing the reciprocating piston in solid lines; Fig. 5, a sectional plan view taken on line 5" of Fig. 4 looking in the direction of the arrow; Fig. 6, a sectional plan viewtaken on the irregular line 6 of Fig. 8 lookingin the direction of the arrow; Fig. 7,

a vertical sectional elevation taken on the lrregular line 7 of Fig. 5, and Fig. 8 a vert1- cal sectlonal elevatlon taken on the lrrcgular line 8 of Fig. 6 looking in the direction of the arrow.

In the art to which this invention relates it is well known that it is very desirable to be as economical as possible with the use of motive fluid-compressed air. art it has eithertaken considerable air to op erate the devices or the mechanism wears so and which will automatically seal the movable parts, so as to save or minimize the leakage through the joints thereof, all of which will be understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art.

In illustrating and describing these improvements I have only illustrated and will here describe that which I consider to be new, taken in connection with so much as is old as will properly disclose the invention to others and enable those skilled in the art to 8 practice the same, leaving out of consideration other and well-known features, which, if set forth herein, would only tend to confusion, prolixity, and ambiguity. For in stance, the arrangement of the ordinary 9o alarm-bell for a locomotive is so well known that it is deemed unnecessary to illustrate the bell itself or anything more than the ordinary crank-shaft, crank, andpin by which the bell is supported and vibrated, all of 5 which is well known in the art.

In constructing a pneumatlc bell-ringer in vide a single-acting cylinder a-that is, a

cylinder having one closed and one open I00 end. This cylinder is provided with a grooved lug portion 1) (shown particularly in Fig. 6) and adapted to be engaged by clamps c, which are also arranged. to grasp a lug (1 upon the locomotive. A clamping-bolt c is provided and passed through the clamps above mentioned, acting to firmly secure the single-acting cylinder in engagement with the locomotive-frame.

A trunk-piston f is provided and recipro- 11o catingly mounted in the single-acting cylinder, as shown particularly in Figs. 7 and 8.

In the older 65 The present inven- 7o To reciprocate the trunk-piston, the cylinderwall, or, more properly speaking, one side thereof, is provided with an inlet opening or port 9 and an exhaust opening or port h, while the reciprocating piston is provided with two independent passagesan inletpassage t and an exhaust-passage j. These passages are arranged parallel and extend longitudinally through a portion of the reciprocating piston, opening in a radial manner to the cylindrical surface thereof, as shown particularly in Figs. 5 and 6.

As shown in Figs. 5 and 7, the arts are in position to receive the motive uidcompressed airwhich entering therein passes to the bottom of the piston and into chamber g between the piston and the lower end of the cylinder, so as to raise said piston upwardly. As it is raised it is also artially rotated by mechanism hereinafter escribed which disconnects the inlet-passage in the piston with the inlet-port in the cylinder and connects the exhaust-passage in the piston with the exhaust-port in the cylinder, as shown particularly in Fig. 6. The motive fluid is then permitted to exhaust through the opening it, while the weight of the parts permits the re ciprocating piston to return to its initial position. To partially rotate the piston so as to connect and disconnect the inlet and exhaust passages of the piston and the inlet and exhaust ports of the cylinder, a cam-slot 7c is provided in one portion of the cylindrical surface of the piston and the cylinder provided with a screw-stud Z, ada ted to be engaged therewith, as shown in ig. 4. It will be seen from an examination of the drawings that when the piston is raised to dotted position it is also partially turned, as shown in dotted outlines, and when dropped back to its initial position it is partially turned in the opposite manner, the contacting of the stud I with the inclined upper and lower walls of the slot 7: causing these rotations. It will be noticed also that the inlet and exhaust ports in the cylinderwall are, as above suggested,

on one side, and, further, that the openings of the inlet and exhaust passages in the piston are on the same side. It becomes desirable, therefore, that some means be provided to keep the piston seated on that side-the port sideof the cylinder-wall. To accomplish this, a radially-arranged recess m is provided in the piston, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7, and a helically-coiled spring 'n is inserted therein. Interposed between this helicallycoiled spring and the bore of the cylinder is a cylindrical wearing-block p, so arranged that the pressure of the spring is exerted on the piston and wearing-block, all of which serves to keep the piston perfectly seated on the port side of the cylinder, thus preventing leakage of the heavy fluid as it is being fed or exhausted out of the cylindrical chamber g. The piston is further provided with packingrings 1', of the usual construction and arrangement, that serve to prevent ordinary leakage. The helical coiled spring it, however, is the important factor in preventing the waste of motive fluid, in that it keeps the piston well seated on the port side of the cylinder-wall, thereby preventing leakage of the motive fluid out of the joint between these two parts, all of which will be understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art.

In order to communicate power and motion from the reciprocating piston to the ordinary alarm-bell, (not shown,) a gravity connecting rod or bar is provided, formed in two partsa lower part 8, which is provided with a rounded head t, engaging with the base of an open cup-shaped recess u, arranged in the upper part of the reciprocating piston, and an upper slotted bar 0, which is detachably engaged with the lower part 8. The two parts of the bar above described are connected together, as shown particularly in Fig. 1, by one part being screw-threaded, as at w, and the other having a screw-threaded aperture to receive the same.

The usual alarm-bell (not shown) is mounted upon a bell-crank shaft x and provided with the usual crank y and a crank-pin 2, engaging the elongated slot 10 of the gravity connecting-bar in a loose manner, so that the bell may at certain times swing and ring without operating the bar. In other words, the pneumatic mechanism only operates by the slotted and dotted lines, as shown particularly in Fig. 4, to give an impulse to the crank-pin, so as to vibrate the bell-crank and sound the alarm-b ell whenever it is necessary so to do.

I claim 1. In mechanisms of the class described, the combination of a bell-crank for an alarmbell, a cylinder provided with inlet and exhaust ports in the wall at one side thereof only, a reciprocating piston mounted therein and provided with inlet and exhaust passages arranged to be connected and disconnected alternately with the inlet and exhaust ports in the cylinder, means for keeping the reciprocating piston seated on the port side of the cylinder-wall, and means for connecting the reciprocating piston with the bell-crank, sub stantially as described.

2. In mechanisms of the class described, the combination of a bell-crank, a cylinder provided with inlet and exhaust ports in the wall thereof at one side only, a reciprocating piston mounted therein and provided with inlet and exhaust passages opening at one side thereof only and arranged to be connected and disconnected with the inlet and exhaust ports of the cylinder during the reciprocations of the piston, a recess in said piston, a spring in said recess, a wearing-block arranged therein and interposed between the spring and the wall of the cylinder so as to force and hold said piston seated on the port side of the cylinder, and means connecting said piston with the bellcrank so as to operate the same, substantially as described.

3. In mechanisms of the class described, the combination of a bell-crank, a single-acting cylinder provided with inlet and exhaust ports in the wall at one side thereof, a reciprocating piston mounted therein and provided with inlet and exhaust passages opening at one side thereof and arranged to be connected and disconnected alternately with the inlet and exhaust ports in said cylinderwall, a radially-arranged recess in the opposite side of said piston, a helicallycoiled spring in said recess, and a wearing-block interposed between said spring and the inner bore of said cylinder so as to-keep the piston seated on the port side of the cylinder, and means connecting the piston with the bellcrank, substantially as described.

4. In mechanisms of the class described, the combination of a singleacting cylinder provided with inlet and exhaust ports in the wall thereof, a trunk-piston reciprocatingly mounted therein and provided with an open cup-shaped recess in its upper end, a bell and crank pin, and a gravity connecting-rod having its lower end loosely mounted in such recess of the trunk-piston and movable vertically with relation to the piston and having an elongated slot at the other end loosely engaging the crank-pin of the bell-crank, substantially as described.

5. In mechanisms of the class described, the combination of a bell-crank and pin, a single-acting cylinder provided with inlet and exhaust ports in its wall and at one side thereof, atrunk piston reciprocatingly mounted therein and provided With independent inlet and exhaust passages extending therethrough and adapted to be connected and disconnected alternately with the inlet and exhaust ports in said cylinder, spring mechanism for keeping said piston seated on the port side of the cylinder, an open cup-shaped recess in the upper end of said piston, an alarm-bell provided with a crank and crankpin, and a gravity connecting rod or bar formed in two partsa lower part provided with a rounded head on its lower end in engagement with the cup-shaped recess and an upper part provided with an elongated slot loosely engaging the crank-pin and detachably secured to the lower portion, substantially as described.

6. In mechanisms of the class described, the combination of a cylinder provided with inlet and exhaust ports in the wall thereof, a piston reciprocatingly mounted in such cylinder and provided with an open socket in its upper end, a bell-crank provided with a crank-pin, and a gravity connecting-rod having its lower end articulately mounted in such socket and movable vertically with relation to the piston and its upper end loosely connected with the crank-pin and movable vertically with relation thereto, whereby the connecting-rod is movable bodily in a vertical plane with relation to both the piston and crank-pin.

JOHN HOWE.

Witnesses THOMAS F. RYAN. MoRTE H. CRAIG. 

